I've been out of town this week, so there won't be a podcast today. Instead I'd just like to provide a news update and share some of the things that we've been working on lately.

Summer Updates - Phase 2
If you listen to the podcasts then you know that we're rolling out this summer's updates in different phases. The next phase involves making the game window slightly larger and adjusting/improving many of the game's onscreen menus.

The first Phase 2 update will be v1.48, and the most significant changes that you're going to see are related to the battle system. Status indicators for things like Poison, Renew, Simmer etc. are finally here, but I'm guessing that the most popular change will be the new Hotkey setup:

You can map any ability or item to a hotkey and instantly recall it with a press of a button or a click from the main battle menu. Spiff did an amazing job implementing this system, and you'll be surprised by how much of a difference it makes. Battles flow much faster, and making your next move selection while in a party feels like much less of a race against the clock.

The earliest you could see this update might be this weekend. Speaking of which...

4th of July Holiday Event
I'm trying my best to get this weekend's planned holiday event ready in time. Like the Easter holiday event from last April, there will be several new daily quests and monsters to fight, along with lots of special loot exclusive to the event.

I'm a bit busier than I expected this week, so I'm cramming to get everything finished for the event. There is an outside chance that I'm not going to be able to complete things in time, but with any luck this should be ready to go by Saturday.

Flash NEStalgia
Last night the development team tried out the first working demo of the flash NEStalgia client. The game loaded right into a Firefox window and played really well. Being able to load up NEStalgia in a browser with no manual installation was just freaking cool.

The big impact that this will have on NEStalgia is that it will increase our exposure exponentially by being able to embed the game on sites like Kongregate and Facebook. The flash client will also finally allow Mac users to play the game from within OS X.

Tom and Lummox JR of BYOND are responsible for the development of the flash client, and as we move forward both Silk Games and BYOND will be working together closely to improve NEStalgia and to expand our potential audience. This partnership has already yielded some very tangible results: thanks to recent improvements in the efficiency of BYOND icon procedures NEStalgia no longer requires the separate character creation servers and we were finally able to implement dye and mask previews. Pretty cool stuff!

We don't have a solid timeline on the flash version of NEStalgia, but I'll keep you updated (and perhaps post some screenshots soon) as development continues.

NEStalgiaSecrets.com
Nathaniel (NomadNate) recently released an unofficial treasure trove of spoilers and secrets for NEStalgia at NEStalgiaSecrets.com. It's a really good looking and easy to navigate site, and it contains maps for every single area in the game.

I personally don't like using strategy guides for everything, but if you're stuck on a puzzle or can't find the last couple treasure chests then that site is the place to go. Check it out!

So SilkGames gets the privilege to test out the Flash Client before everyone else because... >.> poor Falacy

There are a lot of children and immature adults in this community who are so focused on the petty online drama that they don't realize that BYOND is a business venture. Tom isn't a middle school principal here to keep all of the children from fighting with each other - he's a developer who has put years into this project. NEStalgia and the Flash client are poised to bring in some serious revenue for BYOND, so it only makes sense to get it released ASAP.

Everyone comes to BYOND with an equal opportunity to be just as successful as I have with NEStalgia. The difference is that instead of focusing on developing games, most "developers" here don't take anything seriously except for the community drama. Falacy in particular is a waste of space - he's a poor designer who is both incredibly childish and mean spirited. He's only thrived on BYOND by latching onto large IPs (DBZ, Bleach). When he received a C&D and was forced to transition his DBZ game over to an "original" game without the benefit of copyrighted intellectual property, that game instantly imploded.

Anyone who doesn't understand the difference between legitimate developers like Silk Games and semi-retarded drama queens like Falacy is largely irrelevant to BYOND's future. The era of BYOND fan games run by kids is over. If you're finding yourself asking the question "Why is Silk Games getting special treatment?", then that's probably a sign that it's time for you to pack it in and move on.

Hm, I'm going to take that as you believing me to be a decent enough programmer to create competition for you in the future, and roll with it.

I don't view anyone on BYOND as competition, and you shouldn't either. Working to best other BYOND developers with technical feats or player counts is a small minded goal that accomplishes nothing. Developers here seem to forget that there is an entire world outside of BYOND to conquer, and that's what I'm focused on.